Prior to the release of Beretta’s A400 Upland in 28 gauge, Remington was the last gun manufacturer to produce a 28-gauge 3" gas-operated semi-auto shotgun. Big Green made its 1100 available in 28 as a matched set with a .410 barrel in 1969. It wasn’t until more than a half-century later that Beretta debuted its own version of the 3" repeater. Most upland hunters and clay shooters who use this 28 may never run a 3" load through it; however, the chambering has become popular with duck hunters primarily because of the increased availability of bismuth and tungsten shells. Benelli also beat Beretta to the market with its 3" Ethos Cordoba and Super Black Eagle III in 28—although both are recoil operated. And in the shotgun world it’s all about keeping up with the Joneses.
This past summer I shot the Upland on skeet and 5 Stand, and in September I took it on a few dove hunts. At just 5.8 pounds, the gun is light, but it handles beautifully and has virtually no felt recoil. Because of the light weight, it may be difficult for some shooters to keep the barrel moving on longer targets that require more lead. At the patterning board, the A400 produced 60/40 patterns from 40 yards with 2¾" Federal target loads through the Modified choke. It produced the same patterns with 3" HEVI-Shot HEVI-XII loads. The gun did fail to cycle one 3" HEVI-Shot load, but there were no issues with the 2¾" loads. The price is $1,730. For more information, visit beretta.com.
- The walnut stock is capped with a ½"-thick Extralight recoil pad, and the pistol grip has a matte finish with laser checkering on both sides of the palm swell. Shims are included for drop and cast, but spacers must be purchased separately to adjust the 143/8" length of pull. The forend is also walnut and features checkering on all sides. A piece of plastic is affixed to the front of the forend where the cap is screwed down.
- The Upland, which also comes in 12 and 20 gauge, uses the same B-Link gas-operated system with rotating bolthead used by all A400-series shotguns. However, engineers had to make several modifications to the piston for the gun to cycle 3" shells reliably. The aluminum-alloy receiver is nickel-plated and features two “28s” laser engraved on the left side of the receiver. Beretta branding adorns the right side. “A400 Upland Magnum” is etched into both sides of the receiver. The reversible crossbolt safety sits at the front of the trigger group, and trigger pulls on our gun averaged 3 pounds.
- Beretta offers the A400 Upland in three barrel lengths—26", 28" and 30"—topped with a 6mm vent rib and red fiber-optic front sight. A400 barrels are cold-hammer forged and include Beretta Steelium (80mm) forcing cones. There are also Steelium Plus (330mm) and Steelium Pro (450mm) cones available. Three flush-fitting Optimachoke HP chokes (Cylinder, Modified and Full) are identified by etchings on the sides of the chokes and notches in the ends.
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